This video shows my attempts to create a 3D shader which converts the original footage from a nuclear detonation into a volumetric representation of it. The underlying premise is that the object is cylindrical in shape. If that's the case, you can transform the UV space accordingly to turn the 2D image into 3D. The footage is mapped around an imaginary cylinder and multiplied by another instance of the texture mapped along the cylinder's tangent, which provides the silhouette. It's no nuclear science, it just requires some math. 🙂
Footage from Operation Teapot / Post
Film numbers used: 29010, 29043
Test conducted: April 9, 1955
Source: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Music: Quaro - Psion (CC BY)
Nolan Oppenheimer